Wow. I can't remember the last Ueto Aya jdorama where its freaking obvious that she was miscast. Probably Attention Please? In Nagareboshi she plays Risa who is forced to prostitute herself in order to pay off her brother's debt. This is perfect casting for Ueto Aya because she has to wear sailor fuku for her job and she looks just like a high school girl instead of a 25 year old woman.
The brown hair and slightly unkempt look in Nagareboshi actually makes her look 20+ instead of a teen. So Risa's working to pay off debts when her evil brother played by Inagaki Goro comes back into her life and causes havoc. Just when she pays off his debts, he destroys her love life and gets her back in money trouble.
Kengo (Takenouchi Yutaka) works in an aquarium, has a cute sister played by Kitano Kii like all Japanese dudes have and is about to get married Minako (Itaya Yuka). One day, Kengo's sister Maria collapses and it is discovered that her liver is fucked and she can only live for a year unless she finds a donor. Kengo and mom were not suitable to be donors and they furiously try to convince relatives to donote to no avail. Then we find out that there's a rule in Japan whereby donors must be relatives as to prevent people from paying for organs. Either that or hope enough organ donors die so Maria's turn on the list can come up.
Minako doesn't find out about Maria's illness until later and is asked to donate her liver if she is compatible. She consults with her parents who of course objects to it. I have no idea what the side effects of liver donation are but I am happy to accept it as it is a necessary plotline for the premise of the story. Kengo, who is running out of options saves the suicidal Risa and offers to pay her debts in exchange for her marrying him so she can donate her liver to Maria.
So the basic story of Nagareboshi is Risa going from prostitute to selling her kidneys in a sham marriage. So far I'm liking it because its more serious and darker than those sham marriage turn to love kmovies. The bright and happy Maria in hospital part with Matsuda Shota as her doctor and the kansai-ben guy I don't particularly care for cause its a bit too bright and happy and Matsuda Shota does not make a convincing doctor. Tanihara Shosuke should have been the doctor in this one instead of the sleep inducing Mioka.
So where does Nagareboshi go from here? Goro will continue to be the torn in Risa's backside and there will be some lame redemption scene for him at the end. The doctor will suspect and find out about Kengo and Risa's sham marriage and we'll have our ethical conundrum of the series. The synopsis mentions Kengo's dark secret so I'm looking forward to that. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the first two episodes of Nagareboshi. Not must watch but certainly full of promise.
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